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Sort of how economists are always urging more neoliberalism and less of any alternative (socialism, syndicalism, Georgism, whatever): they're talking their own
by jessaustin 5y ago
Sort of how economists are always urging more neoliberalism and less of any alternative (socialism, syndicalism, Georgism, whatever): they're talking their own book. If they don't examine the nature of money (for example, the control that capitalists exert over Fed policy etc.) too closely they can pretend that their simplistic models still have some explanatory value.
- xapata 5y agoYou haven't met a wide range of economists.
- atq2119 5y agoThere is indeed a bunch of variety among academics in economics, but a very heavy filter biases which kinds of economic opinions make it into the broader public sphere. This has a lot to do with how think tanks are, on average, politically biased due to their funding sources, and so one could argue that it's not academics' fault. Still, I often feel that academics in economics too easily abdicate their responsibility for how the subject impact society.
- afarrell 5y agoHunch: It is because academics need to prove their results. In order to do that, they generally need numbers.
- jessaustin 5y agoI haven't seen a "wide range of economists" on TV! Or testifying before Congress! Or arranging coups in Chile! At university, I met (and roomed with) lots of economists, all of whom were solidly in the neoliberal camp. As perceptive readers might have realized, since then I've read and listened to a broader range of economic expertise. My favorite now is Richard Wolff.
- xapata 5y agoYou might like the writings of Yanis Varoufakis.
- jessaustin 5y agoYes, I do. He has interesting things to say about the role of Germany in EU, much as e.g. Michael Hudson has interesting things to say about the role of USA globally.